<\/p>\n
Dukas\u2019 complete piano works from new Norwegian pianist<\/p>\n
The destructive self-criticism of Paul Dukas resulted in only a few of his works remaining after his death. This disc presents Dukas\u2019 complete works for piano, music that is indeed hard to find elsewhere in the record catalogues. And pianist Tor Espen Aspaas (b. 1971) has made his debut recording with the music he loves. Some of the reason this music remain as unattended in the record catalogues as it is, may indeed lay in the sheer difficulty of the material. Non-idiomatic writing for the piano, to put it mildly, and the Wagner-inspired phrases are endless. Aspaas puts what few references there are completely behind him in every respect. This is virtuoso playing in the true meaning of the word, just what the doctor ordered for Dukas\u2019 piano oeuvre. With flexibility, beautiful control over colour and dynamics, and the freshness of youth, Tor Espen from Norway lets the music of Paul from France come to life again. Finally.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dukas\u2019 complete piano works from new Norwegian pianist<\/p>\n
Paul Dukas is one of those composers we find totally in the shadow of the one piece he wrote which became extremely famous. Everybody knows the Disney movie Fantasia and Dukas\u2019 orchestral piece The Sorcerer\u2019s Apprentice used in that film. But for most of us it stops there. Aspaas himself came across the Piano Sonata on the B-side of a cassette (!) on a trip to France in the early 90s, and he was immediately taken by the complexity and finesse of this grand piece. He immediately got hold of what was left of Dukas\u2019 music, and there and then knew he wanted to do something with this material in the future.<\/p>\n
Some of the reason this music is so unattended in the record catalogues as it is, may indeed lay in the sheer difficulty of the material. Non-idiomatic writing for the piano, to put it mildly, and the Wagner-inspired phrases are endless. Aspaas puts what few references there are completely behind him in every respect. This is virtuoso playing in the true meaning of the word, just what the doctor ordered for Dukas\u2019 piano oeuvre. With flexibility, beautiful control over colour and dynamics, and the freshness of youth, Tor Espen from Norway lets the music of Paul from France come to life again. Finally.<\/p>\n
Aspaas is a much sought-after soloist and chamber musician. He has collaborated with conductors such as Frans Br\u00fcggen, Vassilij Sinajskij, and performs regularly with Arve Tellefsen, Frans Helmerson, Virginia Tola and H\u00e5kan Hageg\u00e5rd, among many others. In the autumn of 2001 he was appointed associate professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Besides performing and teaching, Tor Espen Aspaas is Artistic Director for the chamber music festival \u2019Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden\u2019 in R\u00f8ros, Norway.<\/p>\n
<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
– What fascinates is Aspaas\u2019 flexible and agile presentation. Just like this, yes exactly like this should it be done! A composer set free by his performer. [Dagbladet\/Norway]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":27576,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[180],"product_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-384","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-simax-classics","7":"product_shipping_class-cddvd-shipping","8":"uni_artist_tag-krzysztof-drab","9":"uni_artist_tag-paul-dukas","10":"uni_artist_tag-tor-espen-aspaas","11":"uni_main_artist_tag-tor-espen-aspaas","12":"uni_artist_genre-piano","13":"uni_artist_genre-solo","15":"first","16":"instock","17":"taxable","18":"shipping-taxable","19":"purchasable","20":"product-type-simple"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/384","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=384"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grappa.no\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}